Visit Planned -- Already!

I'm not gone, yet, and I have a visit planned back to Seattle!  Mr. N. will be presenting his play in BHam, and his MOM will be there.  Count on me in December for a week!

Stories

Teddy Bear Camp stories are the best!  Today during snack time, K (who is 3 years old) looked across the table at S (who is 5) and asked, "Do you love me?"  K is sure that everyone in his world loves him!!  (I do, for sure!)

An unnamed little girl was so excited to come to camp this morning that she forgot one important thing: her underwear!  Mom went to her room to pick up her jacket to bring back to camp (it was cool this morning) only to find the panties for the day still laid out in her room.  So, Mom delivered a jacket PLUS!

In the sandbox this morning, several children were digging with big shovels.  I asked what they were digging . . . . "A ditch!"  (Of course, why would I ask?)

I love children.  

Remembering

Handing my parent education classes to the new instructors means that my life as I have known it for the past 25 years is done.  Fall has meant pushing the huge boulder up hill to get four groups going: collecting tuition and paperwork, calling parents, getting to know new groups of families.  I have considered it a real privilege to learn their stories and be a small part of helping them in their most important work of parenting.  My work colleagues have been a joy as well, and have taught me so much.  

This remembering comes today as Miss A came to Teddy Bear Camp this morning to pick up her brother.  She's now seven and very grown up; I remember when she was two.  The memories go on and on.

Miss C and Gma La La on a Vashon Island beach in June, 2008.

What am I forgetting?

It's time for endings and beginnings: my last accordion lesson, my last dinner with a friend, my last hair cut!  My last play at the Rep and Intiman . . . And this is the last week of  Teddy Bear Camp.

I will miss my life which includes a list of friends so long and so deep that I weep with gratitude at their place in my heart.  How will it be to be away?  Will they remember me?  Will it be the same when I come back?  

I left for a year once before, with my then husband and two children to live in Australia for a year.  This is a little different, because now I can be in touch via the internet and of course by telephone or hop on a plane.  For the Australian year, I enjoyed the company of my family; this time I will enjoy family as well . . . . and that beautiful Miss C, the reason for this adventure.  

So, I'll mow the lawn one more time, get the furnace serviced, line up a neighbor boy to cut the grass while I'm away, change my mailing address, get an absentee ballot for the Presidential election.  I hope I remember everything!

TBC in the News

The 25th summer of Teddy Bear Camp made the local newspaper, the Mercer Island Reporter this week!  Have a look.

Gma La La loves the Pacific Ocean at Cannon Beach, Oregon.  Now what will the Atlantic Ocean look like?  Feel like?  Do you go there on New Year's Day?

I'm trying to do all the things I love in a Pacific Northwest Summer before I leave: being with friends, hiking, a little bike riding, Teddy Bear Camp, raspberries and blueberries in my back yard.  Each day Teddy Bear Camp reminds me of how much I enjoy young children.  Watching them try new things; being with them as they master the art of saying good-by to Mom or Dad; singing, dancing, being silly, painting, laughing, listening to their stories.  Our last activity of each day is to sing the "Teddy Bear Camp Song" to the bears and rock them to sleep.  The children take this so seriously.  What a privilege to be a part of a young person's life.

I plan to see Mount Rainier one more time; and dinner at the little Italian place; Hood Canal beckoned twice already.  Thank you to all my friends who make my life rich. 

It's time to begin a new adventure!

Who knew that I would decide to leave my home to live on the right hand coast for a while? But here I go!  My leaving time is soon, and my house looks a fright!!  What to take?  What do I need?  (Are there stores on the right hand coast?)  Thinking about leaving my home, my town, my friends is mind boggling . . . .  for a wonderful opportunity to spend a year or so with my beautiful baby grand daughter, Miss C.  I'll be her Granny-Nanny.  

Standing in my daughter's kitchen over a year ago, the idea came to me to take a year off from my regular life to spend time with this baby-to-be.  She came in October, and my plans have been set.

Leaving will be soon, driving from the West coast to the East. . . . I'll keep track of the whole thing on these pages.  Wish me luck!!